Top 5 upcoming sporting events of the weekend


By Neo Poho

With yet another big weekend on the horizon from Football, Cricket and Rugby here are some of the big sporting events happening in the first weekend of February.

1.Orlando Pirates host Mamelodi Sundowns in another entertaining DSTV Premiership clash.

Having claimed a third consecutive DSTV Premiership victory against Marumo Gallants last weekend Saturday, Orlando Pirates are oozing with confidence ahead of their encounter with Mamelodi Sundowns.

The Soweto giants who seem to have found their rhythm particularly in front of goal will host the reigning DSTV Premiership Champions and the current log leaders at the Soweto Stadium in Orlando on Saturday afternoon.

This is the fifth time the two sides meet this season having met before on four occasions in all competitions so far, the last league encounter the two sides played saw Sundowns defeat the Buccaneers 2-0 at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium.

However a month later Orlando Pirates are certainly a different team, accurate in front of goal and more stronger defensively, new signee Makhehlene Makhaula will also look to make his debut for the Buccaneers in a bid to help strengthen the midfield of the team against a very strong Sundowns.

Orlando Pirates Legend Tebogo Moloi also described the encounter as a clash of the titans fixture and backing Pirates to clinch all the three points.

"Pirates have defeated Sundowns before, the archives are there, they know what to do to beat Sundowns, it will take the same determination, concentration and the will to want to win that will determine whether Pirates will win or not", Moloi said.

Meanwhile Mamelodi Sundowns are also looking to extend their winning streak to 15 games when they travel to the Orlando Stadium to face Pirates on Saturday afternoon.

Rhulani Mokwena's charges are in fine form that has seen them have one hand on the title already, their 2-0 victory against Sekhukhune United last week Saturday helped them to reach the 50 points mark on the log standings.

Having defeated Pirates 2-0 last year in the reverse fixture, Sundowns will look to emulate those heroics on Saturday and clinch a league double over Jose Riviero's side.

It surely promises to be a mouthwatering clash and with rain expected to fall on Saturday in Johannesburg, hopefully it will also rain goals down under in Soweto.

2.Tottenham Hotspur entertain Manchester City.

This weekend marks the return of the English Premier League after the 4th round of the FA Cup was the main focus in English football last weekend.

Second place Manchester City travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in a must win encounter if anything is to go by with keeping touching distance with Arsenal.

This is the second time the two sides meet in a space of two weeks after City thrashed Tottenham 4-2 at the Etihad Stadium on the 19th of January 2023.

With both team progressing to the next round of the FA Cup last week after defeating Preston North End and Arsenal respectively, both sides will look to continue with the same momentum heading into the Premier League encounter.

Thoughts will be spared for Antonio Conte this week, as the Tottenham boss cedes control of the reins to Cristian Stellini following an operation to remove his gallbladder, having experienced "severe abdominal pain" following last weekend's FA Cup win over Preston.

Although that is the case Spurs will hope that Harry Kane continues his fine form in front of goal against the Citizens, the English man is always a force to be reckoned with particularly when it comes to big matches like the one on Sunday.

On the contrast Pep Guardiola's side are also eyeing a victory that will put more pressure on log leaders Arsenal whom they face on the 15th of February.

Talisman Erling Haaland is one of the key players City will look to use in order for them to get the desired result, along with Haaland City will hope that Kevin De Bruyne who has been exceptional in the midfield of the park and Jack Grealish who also knows how to score will continue to rise to the occasion and influence the result to Pep's advantage.

3.The San Siro hosts the Milan Derby on Sunday.

All roads lead to Milan on Sunday as defending Serie A Champions AC Milan head into the Milan Derby against city rivals Inter Milan in dreadful form with just one win in their last five matches.

Milan's woes continued last week when they went down 5-2 to Sassuolo just after they were knocked out of the Coppa Italia by Torino in the very same week.

With the Scudetto seeming to get out Milan's reach who are currently occupying the 5th spot in the Serie A after being 15 points behind log leaders Napoli, a victory against city rivals on Sunday will be a need if anything is to go by.

Meanwhile Inter Milan have enjoyed some good run of success occupying the second spot on the log after 20 games.

Inter Milan's good form saw them become the first team to take maximum points against run-away log leaders Napoli this season as they walked away with a 1-0 win last month.

With Inter having the upper hand heading into the clash, they will be looking to pick up another win against their struggling rivals to make up more ground on Napoli in the race to win the Scudetto. They will, however, be aware that form usually goes out the window in the Derby della Madonnina.

4.Pretoria Capitals welcome MI Cape Town at SuperSport Park.

The Pretoria Capitals will look to cement their place at the top of the SA20 table when they host the MI Cape Town at SuperSport Park.

With the Pretoria Capitals already having defeated the side from Cape Town before in the reverse fixture by 52 runs, MI Cape Town will hope to redeem themselves in a bid to get a victory against the Capitals.

Fresh from the series victory against England, Anrich Notje and Wayne Parnell will definitely hope to continue where they left off while on International duty to help the side from Pretoria get the much needed wickets.

5.Six Nations on the Horizon.

This weekend we will see the 2023 season of the Six Nations take center stage, the tournament which sees Wales, England, Ireland, Italy, France and Scotland Will start on the 4th of February until the 18 of March 2023.

Tomorrow we will see Wales welcome Ireland at the Millennium Stadium while England host Scotland at Twickenham and with the only fixture on Sunday Italy will entertain France at Stadio Olimpico.

The first weekend of February surely promises to be an exciting one and whether you favourite team is playing or not, there is without a doubt a sporting event you can look up to this weekend.

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